Korea’s Amy takes the lead at CP Women’s Open

Regina, Saskatchewan: South Korea’s Amy Yang took sole possession of the lead at the CP Women’s Open on Friday after shooting 7-under 65 in the second round at Wascana Country Club in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Yang sits at 13-under 131 for the tournament after shooting 66 on Thursday.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson and American Angel Yin share second place at 12 under, with a star-studded quartet another two strokes back in a tie for fourth place. That group includes the world’s top two players, South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, as well as Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who ranks 15th after starting the season at 44th in the Rolex Rankings.
Only six other players are within five strokes of the lead, with two Americans — Mariah Stackhouse and Austin Ernst — at 9 under and four players at 8 under.
Yang, the world’s 25th-ranked player, opened on the back nine and ripped off four birdies in five holes. After a setback at No 16, she put together another streak of four birdies in five holes to get to 7 under on the round through 12. She bogeyed the fifth but birdied the ninth to close out her round.
“My putting was really good today,” Yang said after her round. “I was hitting it pretty solid out there, but I gave myself a lot of good chances, and I think I made most of them out there.”
Henderson had four birdies in her first six holes and three in her last four, with the only hiccup a bogey at No 16, to shoot 66 for the second day in a row. Her round-capping birdie at No 9 brought a huge cheer from the home crowd.
“Yeah, it was amazing,” Henderson said of the support. “Walking up No 9 there, my final hole, to see that many people there to watch me finish was incredible. I was happy I was able to birdie for them and get to 12 under.”
Yin also started and finished hot, opening birdie-par-eagle and closing with three straight birdies to shoot 67.
Park was the only player to go lower than Yang on Friday, blistering an 8-under 64 after needing a late charge a day earlier just to shoot 70.
The world’s top-ranked player opened on the back nine on Friday with consecutive birdies, then eagled the par-5 14th and birdied three of the next four holes, the only blemish being a bogey at No 16. Dating back to Thursday’s round, Park was 11 under over her previous 16 holes at that point. She closed with seven pars and two birdies on the front nine to move within three of the lead.
“Overall, today everything felt really good from tee to putting,” Park, who won the event last year, said afterward. “Even though my putting wasn’t great yesterday, it was better than I anticipated today. I’m pretty satisfied with my round today.”
Jutanugarn’s tournament has been essentially the inverse of Park’s so far, as she finished with a 70 on Friday after shooting 64 and sharing the lead after Round 1. The world’s No 2 parred her first eight holes in Round 2 before birdieing the ninth, but she could manage only two birdies — one at the 18th — and a bogey the rest of the way. — Reuters